_edited_edited.png)
The main difference between a data analyst and a business analyst lies in their primary focus. Data analysts are responsible for analyzing complex datasets to identify patterns and trends, while business analysts focus on understanding business needs and providing strategic recommendations using data.
DATA ANALYST
Data analysis is the practice of working with data to glean useful information, which can then be used to make informed decisions.
This idea lies at the root of data analysis. When we can extract meaning from data, it empowers us to make better decisions. And we’re living in a time when we have more data than ever at our fingertips.
Companies are wisening up to the benefits of leveraging data. Data analysis can help a bank to personalize customer interactions, a health care system to predict future health needs, or an entertainment company to create the next big streaming hit.
Data analysis process
As the data available to companies continues to grow both in amount and complexity, so too does the need for an effective and efficient process by which to harness the value of that data. The data analysis process typically moves through several iterative phases. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Identify the business question you’d like to answer. What problem is the company trying to solve? What do you need to measure, and how will you measure it?
Collect the raw data sets you’ll need to help you answer the identified question. Data collection might come from internal sources, like a company’s client relationship management (CRM) software, or from secondary sources, like government records or social media application programming interfaces (APIs).
Clean the data to prepare it for analysis. This often involves purging duplicate and anomalous data, reconciling inconsistencies, standardizing data structure and format, and dealing with white spaces and other syntax errors.
Analyze the data. By manipulating the data using various data analysis techniques and tools, you can begin to find trends, correlations, outliers, and variations that tell a story. During this stage, you might use data mining to discover patterns within databases or data visualization software to help transform data into an easy-to-understand graphical format.
Interpret the results of your analysis to see how well the data answered your original question. What recommendations can you make based on the data? What are the limitations to your conclusions?
Data analyst role
Data analysts are known to work with large data sets to identify patterns and trends, which can be used to inform business decisions. They use statistical tools, techniques, and programming languages like SQL and Python to collect, clean, transform, and analyze data.
Some common responsibilities of a data analyst include:
Collecting data from various sources
Cleaning and organizing large dataset
Manipulating data for Exploratory Data Analysis
Performing statistical analysis and data mining
Creating visualizations and reports to present findings
Identifying patterns and trends in datasets
DATA ANALYST TOOLS
There are many data analyst tools available for different purposes and preferences. Some of the most popular and widely used ones are:
Microsoft Power BI: A business intelligence (BI) tool that allows you to create interactive dashboards and reports from various data sources. It has a user-friendly interface and a large community of users and developers.
Tableau: A data visualization tool that enables you to explore and analyze data with drag-and-drop features and stunning charts. It can connect to various data sources and supports advanced analytics such as machine learning and natural language processing.
Python: A popular programming language that has a rich set of libraries and frameworks for data analysis, such as pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, matplotlib, and more. It is versatile, powerful, and easy to learn.
PostgreSQL: PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads.
These are just some of the best data analysis tools that you can use to work with data. Depending on your needs and goals, you may want to try out different tools and see which ones suit you best. 😊
BUSINESS ANALYST
Business analysts focus on understanding business objectives, gathering requirements, and providing strategic recommendations for improving processes, products, or services. They use analytical skills to interpret data and provide insights that inform decision-making.
How to perform a business analysis
If you're interested in learning how you can conduct a business analysis effectively, here are four steps you can reference:
Understand the business's goals
Understanding the business's goals is an important foundation for business analysis because without knowing its goals, it's hard to determine what a company's needs are or how you can resolve its challenges. When determining what these goals are, you might reference the company's mission or values to help guide your thought processes. If the company already has business goals, you may reference them or revise them to reflect the current direction the business is focusing on.
Analyze business operations
Analyzing a company's business operations is useful for identifying where specific demands and requirements and exploring where challenges are present. For example, if your employer is a manufacturer of children's toys, the organization's goal may be to become one of the top-selling children's toy manufacturers. This might mean business analysis examines how the company is currently reviewing the businesses it produces products for and evaluating where potential production challenges may occur. Recognizing both can help you fully analyze business operations regarding the company's goal.
Develop a business plan
Once you understand the business's goals and have analyzed its daily operations, you can develop a company's business plan. Typically, these are documents outlining a company's plans for improvements over a set period. Business plans can be useful for companies to reference throughout their business analysis implementation process to make sure they introduce changes as planned.
Evaluate the progress of the business plan
When you implement the business plan, you can periodically evaluate its progress with additional business analysis. This may help you discover areas where the business has additional needs or challenges. For example, if the company expands, its needs and challenges may change and you may need to make adjustments to its business plan.
Business Analyst Role
Some common responsibilities of a business analyst include:
Identifying and defining business needs
Gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data
Evaluating current processes and identifying areas for improvement
Developing solutions to business problems
Creating reports and visualizations to communicate insight
BUSINESSS ANALYSIS TOOLS
Business Analysts use software tools to manage projects, track requirements, creating decision models, and much more. Some of the top Business Analyst software tools include:
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office – which includes essential business tools like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and many more – is a must-have skill, essentially unavoidable in any office environment.
In fact, Excel is a common requirements management tracking tool, especially for mid-sized operations. For larger businesses and more highly specialized Business Analysts, there’s Rational Requisite Pro, Jama, ReQtest, Orcanos, and others.
Xplenty
Xplenty is a leader for both ETL and ELT. It’s also possible to source tools for one need or the other – including Domo and Grow for ELT or Skyvia for ETL.
Trello
When email is not enough, web-based project management tool Trello steps up to help different stakeholder groups collaborate, syncing devices, and integrating with other platforms. Trello’s board-based interface lets users see what’s being worked on at a glance.
Similarities Between Data Analysts and Business Analysts
While their primary focus may be different, there is an overlap in some of the skills both roles require.
Both data analysts and business analysts need to have strong analytical skills, be proficient in SQL and other programming languages, and be able to interpret data and provide insights.
Additionally, both roles also require excellent communication skills as they need to communicate their findings to stakeholders who may not have a background in data analysis. They also need to be able to work with cross-functional teams and collaborate effectively.
I appreciate you taking time to read this blog. Your thoughts matter, so feel free to share your opinions in the comments below. Stay tuned for more insightful content.
THANKS!